fixed holy days

Shomu Harvest:

Shomu Harvest of Khentkhety-Pao: Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) holy day.

Fordicalia:

Fordicalia: Roman holy day. Festival of Tellus Mater.

Cerealia:

Festival of Cerealia: Roman holy day. The Festival of Cerealia was a seven day festival in honor of the Goddess Ceres. The exact date of the festival is uncertain, but most likely occurred from April 12 to April 19. Other possible start dates include the Ides of April (April 13) and April 7. Note that the Romans used a lunar calendar. This date is a generalized date for the modern calendar. This Roman holy day may be on a different day if calculated using the ancient Roman lunar calendar. In the city of Rome, Cerealia was the primary festival of Ceres. In Rome the festival was accompanied by the Ludi Ceriales, or the Games of Cere, which were held in the Circus Maximus.
Ovid wrote in Fasti iv. 494 that Roman women clothed in white ran about the city with lighted torches to represent Ceres (Demeters) search for her daughter Proserpina (Persephone).
The modern English word cereal comes from the name of the Roman Goddess Ceres.

calendar

This day on different world calendars.

Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) information

Season of Semut or Shemu (Harvest or Summer)
Month of Payni or Paoni (Heru [Horus])
Day 1

Zoroastrian information
(Fasli calendar)

Month of Frawardin (first month)
Day of Ashtad
Day 26

The day of Ashtad celebrates the Av. Arshtat, Rectitude, Justice. Special prayers from the Khorda Avesta are recited in honor of the days spiritual being.

Activity for the day from the Counsels of Adhurbadh, Son of Mahraspand: (144) On the day of Ashtad deliver over your mares, cows, and pack-animals to their males so that they may return in good health. Adarbad Mahraspandan was a famous saint, high priest, and prime minister of Shapur II (309-379 C.E.).

Celtic (ancient Druid) information

Ogham tree calendar

The Celtic calendar started out as a moon calendar, but was aligned with the solar year during antiquity. Robert Graves proposed the Celtic tree calendar described here. While widely used by Neo-Pagans, many critics dispute the authenticity. The Beth-Luis-Nion calendar (the one used here) starts with New Year on the Winter Solstice. The Beth-Luis-Faern calendar starts with New Year on Samhain.

Each Celtic tree month (or moon) is named for a Celtic Ogham letter (first line above) and a tree (second line above). All of the Celtic months also had additional folk names (folk names for this month listed below). Robert Graves claimed that the Celts used a 13 month tree calendar. Critics dispute this claim. Graves claims are based on 19th century work by Edward Davies, who found references to the trees in the 1685 work Ogygia by Ruairi Ó Flaitheartaigh, which was in turn derived from oral history and older works such as Book of Ballymote and Auraicept na n-Éces.

Asatru (ancient Norse) information

Month: Ostara

Roman information

a.d. XVII Kal. Mai.
17 days before the Kalends of May
Month: Aprilis

The a.d. XVII Kal. designation means ante diem or 17 days before the Kalends (first day or New Moon) of the next month. When counting days, the Romans included both the start and end day (in modern Western culture, we skip the start day). When the Romans switched to a solar calendar, they continued to use the lunar day names.

The Roman month of Aprilis is named for Aphrilis, a corruption of name of the Greek Goddess Aphrodite. The Greek Goddess Aphrodite was considered to be the same as the Roman Goddess Venus. Ovid said I have come to the fourth month, full of honor for you; Venus, you know both the poet and the month are yours. April was sacred to Venus, Roman Goddess of love.

The earliest Roman months were lunar. According to Roman mythology, the ten month solar calendar aligned to the vernal equinox was introduced by Romulus, the founder of Rome, around 753 BCE. In Romulus calendar, April (the second month) had 30 days. Numa Pompilius, the second of the seven traditional kings of Rome, added two more months, for a 12 month year. In Numas calendar, April had 29 days. Gaius Julius Caesar, as Pontifex Maximus (supreme bridge-builder, a religious title), reorganized the calendar on the first day of 45 BCE. In Caesars calendar (the Julian Calendar), April had 30 days. Caesars calendar was calculated by Sosigenes, an Egyptian astrologer/astronomer. In 8 BCE, Augustus Caesar fixed errors by pontiffs after Julius death and made other minor modifications, resulting in the modern Western calendar. The modern Gregorian Calendar, named for Roman Catholic Pope Gregory the Thirteenth, was a realignment in 1582.

numerology

Today totals 6 in modern Western numerology. See the article on six for more information.

Magick Color:

Purple: The magick color for this day, based on planetary influences and the day of the week, is purple. You may want to burn a purple candle or wear some purple this day.

Magick Incense:

Clove: The magick incense for this day, based on planetary influences and the day of the week, is clove. You may want to burn clove incense this day. You may substitute a similar incense if you dont have or dont like clove.

Magick Color:

Topaz: The magick color for this day, based on planetary influences and the day of the week, is topaz. You may want to burn a topaz candle or wear some topaz this day.

Magick Incense:

Bay Laurel, Ginger, Sage: The magick incense for this day, based on planetary influences, is bay laurel. The magick incense for this day, based on the day of the week, is sage or ginger. You may want to burn bay laurel, ginger, or sage incense this day. You may substitute a similar incense if you dont have or dont like bay laurel, ginger, or sage.

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